"Final nail in the coffin" - Preston North End anger over Sir Alex Ferguson decision will never be forgotten | OneFootball

Sir Alex and Tony Pulis recalled five players from Preston following Darren Ferguson's sacking in December 2010.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Friendships in football are hard to come by sometimes, however, Preston North End were the victims of one such pact back in 2010.

The Lilywhites went into the 2010/11 campaign off the back of a disappointing previous campaign, after the club slipped from 6th to 17th in the space of one year.

Darren Ferguson, who had taken over from Alan Irvine at the start of 2010, was looking to take the club back to the top half of the Championship, but the season never truly shaped up how he had planned.

The son of legendary Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, Darren had been able to bring in three of United's youngsters in on loan in the first half of the new new campaign; Josh King, Matty James and Richie De Laet.

Tony Pulis, a long-time friend of Sir Alex, also sent two of Stoke City's players to Deepdale: Danny Pugh and Michael Tonge. Despite some promising acquisitions though, it was a season that turned out to be a disaster for Preston.

Preston North End: Sir Alex Ferguson decision still haunts Lilywhites to this day

Under the guidance of Darren Ferguson, the Lilywhites struggled to get going in the Championship, winning just one of their opening seven games - losing the other six.

Two victories on the bounce, including a crazy 6-4 win over Leeds United at Elland Road, followed, but Preston continued to float around the relegation zone and by 12 November 2010, they were bottom of the table.

A 3-1 loss to Middlesbrough just before the end of 2010 saw Ferguson lose his job, and in turn, both Manchester United and Stoke recalled their loan players.

It was a move that surprised Football League World's PNE Fan Pundit, Darren Watson, and he believes it is still the biggest shock in his years supporting the team.

Darren told FLW: "Obviously when he (Darren) got sacked, his father, Sir Alex Ferguson, re-called three loan players back to United straight away when we already were at the bottom of the table.

"Subsequently two players that we had on loan from Stoke got taken back off us as well (due to Pulis' relationship with Ferguson), so really we lost five key players and that did not help and eventually we got relegated that season from the Championship.

"It still shows us this day simply because I don't think there was any policing in it. You can take back a loan player anytime if they’ve obviously got sickness, or they've got injuries in their team, and they need a key player, they've got some out on loan, so it is their player."

Darren continued: "I know that there’s something in the contract where they can take them back, but losing five key players when you're fighting a relegation battle, it's pretty much the final nail in the coffin, and it would be for most teams as well, who are obviously struggling down the bottom end of the table.

"I've not seen anything like that in today's age as well and looking back on it now, it still shocks me and still makes me a bit angry that the bigger teams have that power to obviously put that in these contracts and pull players back whenever they want.

"It's scary as well for other fans, because if anyone gets in the same position as Preston did where a manager gets sacked, and they've got quite a few loan players at the club, if they’re friendly with the loan player’s manager they can just take the loan player back. It would be hard for a club and would be the final nail in the coffin for most teams."

Preston North End's 2010-11 season got progressively worse post-Darren Ferguson

Unsurprisingly, Preston never recovered from their fairly abysmal start, despite the arrival of Phil Brown following the termination of Ferguson's contract.

The Lilywhites saw out the season in the relegation zone, climbing off the foot of the table for the first time in 2011 in April, eventually finishing the campaign 22nd after a final day win against Watford.

Their drop to League One was confirmed following a 1-0 defeat to Cardiff City on 25 April 2011, bringing the Lancashire club's 11-year stay in the second tier to an end.

It took until the 2014/15 season for Preston to win promotion back to the Championship, where they have remained ever since, but the decision made by Sir Alex Ferguson and Pulis perhaps brought about the years of pain at Deepdale.